Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. Sells 2,085 Shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) by 79.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 527 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock after selling 2,085 shares during the quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in First Solar were worth $93,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Solar by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,821,701 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,259,697,000 after acquiring an additional 120,289 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in First Solar by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,956,633 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,236,383,000 after purchasing an additional 108,984 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Solar by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,666,242 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $469,154,000 after purchasing an additional 63,739 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of First Solar by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,359,846 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock worth $415,899,000 after purchasing an additional 262,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of First Solar by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,805,244 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $336,871,000 after buying an additional 426,797 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FSLR. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of First Solar from $280.00 to $251.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 target price on shares of First Solar in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Solar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of First Solar from $297.00 to $238.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of First Solar from $246.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $260.42.

First Solar Price Performance

FSLR opened at $128.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $145.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.47. First Solar, Inc. has a twelve month low of $120.60 and a twelve month high of $306.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market capitalization of $13.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.52.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.81 by ($1.16). The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. First Solar had a net margin of 32.41% and a return on equity of 17.56%. Equities analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 13.05 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Kuntal Kumar Verma sold 7,475 shares of First Solar stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.60, for a total value of $1,021,085.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $484,793.40. The trade was a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark R. Widmar sold 21,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $3,039,360.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 103,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,589,129.27. The trade was a 17.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,311 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,158 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

About First Solar

First Solar, Inc, a solar technology company, provides photovoltaic (PV) solar energy solutions in the United States, France, Japan, Chile, and internationally. The company manufactures and sells PV solar modules with a thin film semiconductor technology that provides a lower-carbon alternative to conventional crystalline silicon PV solar modules.